You're Amazing, Troy Burrows
by IAmForReal
Summary: "There is a world out there, waiting for you." Troy takes a walk down to the meadow to see Emma again, and has a thought about his life. He opens up as he engulfs in a newfound friendship, and overpowers his tough past.


Troy slipped on his leather jacket as he swept into the deep green forest. After today, he knew just where to find her. He thought he heard the echoes of a soft, lovely voice beyond the trees. He walked down the very same road as before. He had come to love this path within hours. It felt better. It felt at peace. And he knew that he had found a sense of friendship.

He had pushed himself to spend a lot more time with his friends, and was surprised when his team didn't mind. He was used to being stood up and pushed around. This was different. This was great. It was much more open here, a breath of fresh air for Troy. He felt that he was getting to a decent start with some new lines of friendship. He wasn't doing badly at all. Or maybe fantasies were getting the best of him.

He wouldn't have a best friend just yet. He knew Jake and Noah were best friends, and they worked perfectly like a puzzle together. He knew Gia and Emma were best friends as well, and they were inseparable. Nothing would tear best friends apart. If only Troy realized that sooner. Then, all the people he called his "friends" would have been given a different name. They all left. They weren't friends. They always left.

His team didn't find him unappealing at all. They invited him in. Troy was getting used to it. He was scared, scared that he would do everything wrong. These were his first real friends. What if they didn't like him when he was just opening up? Would they leave? Troy never could pinpoint an answer, so he hoped. He dreamed.

He found himself at the end of the forest, opening up to the same wide meadow as before. It was filled with flowers, hundreds of blooming beauties at his feet. He caught onto the cherry blossoms, the small flowers that Emma was ever so gently with. It was beautiful. She was beautiful.

But when he scoured the vast area, the Pink Ranger was nowhere to be seen. It was just the soft breeze whispering in his presence. He expected Emma to be there.

But of course, his hopes got too high. He realized reality was slapping him in the face. It was just about dusk, and despite how pretty the sky looked at the moment in an orange and pink glaze around a bright sun, Emma wouldn't be here. He scolded himself for getting away without any logic.

"Are you stealing my thinking spots, Troy?"

His head snapped up, and footsteps approached behind him. He turned around, and mentally thanked himself for jinxing his own hopes.

"Sorry, Emma."

"I wasn't serious."

Emma put her hands in her pockets and walked out next to him. Troy was engulfed in the shine in her deep brown eyes, the eyes of a beautiful girl. She was glowing. Her soft face was glowing.

"So what are you doing out here?" Emma asked him.

Troy shrugged his shoulders. "Looking for you."

"Me?" she said.

Troy smiled a half smile, nervousness bubbling inside of him, ready to screw things up. "I wanted to see you."

Emma grinned to one ear. "Just like that?"

"Just like that." he answered.

"Well you're here." she said as she walked past him and towards the branches of cherry blossoms. Troy spun back around and followed her, a very, very small jump in his steps.

"You're actually here at this time?" Troy asked her.

"Of course. Aren't you?" Emma replied, nodding towards him.

"Well, uh, it could be a onetime thing."

"Don't be ashamed. It's beautiful at this time in the evening." she assured. Troy watched as she walked out onto the meadow and twirled around, like a young Disney princess.

"It _is_ beautiful." Troy commented. "I've never actually seen the sky so open…as stupid as that sounds." He mentally slapped himself for starting the conversation poorly.

"Not stupid at all, Troy." Emma said.

Here he was, scared once again.

"So how do you like Harwood so far?" she asked.

"Much better than the other places I've lived." he replied.

"And why is that?"

Troy began to find the grass below him very interesting as his head dropped down. He was starting to connect to a friend. He wouldn't ruin it with his life sop stories. Not tonight, when everything was going well.

"Troy?" Emma asked in a gentle voice. Troy looked up to see that Emma donned a very soft face and was walking over to him.

"No lie to say I get hurt easily." Troy muttered a mutter Emma obviously heard.

"Troy…"

"It was a terrible advantage." Troy gulped. "At all my other schools and neighborhoods, I was bullied. People would pick on me and call me mean names. They all stayed away from me. I never had a friend."

Emma only blinked and stayed silent. He prayed for her not to leave.

"I wasn't good with bullies. I didn't understand how you were supposed to ignore them. It hurt."

Emma then plopped down on the blanket on grass, and patted the spot next to her. Troy chuckled and sat down right next to her.

"Tell me more…"

"You want to hear my very depressing, and slightly whiney, sop stories?"

"Yes. And they're not whiney. They're emotions. And I care."

Troy's senses seemed to finally pick up as he continued talking to the one person he could talk to.

"I used to cry. Like every day. I never knew why I was the person to be picked on. I don't know if it was because of my hair, or my humungous mouth, or the way I talked…all I knew is that whatever I did, people didn't like it. I didn't want to change though."

"Good. That's good." Emma mumbled. She looked up at him. "Your mouth _is_ abnormally large." she said. Troy raised his eyebrows at her, when she broke out into giggles. "I'm kidding, Troy." Troy laughed along softly as he shoved her playfully to the side.

This whole conversation was a whole trip down memory lane, the bad parts. All the tormenting, and the name calling, and the runs he made. He ran home every day, terrified the big kids would get him again. He was so terrified those days that he couldn't call home…_home_. He thought people wouldn't like that.

Emma seemed to notice his fallen face, for she reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder. "It must've been hard like that."

"All I knew is that it hurt, it always hurt. Up to thirteen years old, I would come home crying every day, hating myself. And I hated myself for actually hating myself. Then three years ago I realized that this was one of the hardships in my life. It was my job to overcome it. So I stopped crying then."

Emma leaned her head on his shoulder. "It hurts just hearing it. I mean, people get hurt so often. We should be human enough to know what they go through. That's why I accept pain. But I've never been bullied and this is heartbreaking…"

"Of course you haven't been bullied. Who would bully such a lovely girl?"

He could feel Emma's blush against his skin. He was content, knowing that he had the capability of making someone smile.

"I'm not all that lovely."

"Whatever you say. But I'd like to think otherwise." Troy said. Emma laughed lightly.

"Thank you." she said.

Troy wrapped an arm around her, slinging it around her shoulder. "Not a problem at all." He looked up, and saw that the bold pink and orange tint in the sky was fading, and midnight black was coming in. Emma noticed it too, her head lifting off of his shoulder and looking up.

"You know beyond all of the pain, war, and hatred, the world is a beautiful place. If we could all stop and see it through the same eyes, how nice would that be."

"Well, I think we'd just save the world. Together."

"Exactly…"

Troy tilted his head down to watch Emma glistening to the sky, her eyes shining as dusk began to fade. The love for the world she had was amazing.

"We should probably get going." Troy said as another stronger breeze blew into him.

"Yeah, yeah. It's getting dark." Emma said. Troy stood up and held his hand out. Emma smiled and grabbed it, and he pulled her up.

And just then, small cherry blossom petals began flying off their branches, and the wind began sweeping all the petals around them. A tornado of flowers flew around them. It was a perfect moment. Just perfect.

"You're a brilliant person, Emma. You know that?" Troy said.

Emma grinned. "I think I do. I always have my friends like you to remind me."

Troy grinned too. He finally earned the title of friend. Happiness surged within him, stronger than rushing waves. He wanted for so long to feel like this, to feel this good, this proud and strong. He wanted so much as to finally run home and tell his mom he made a new friend.

"But you, Troy, are so much more. Me? This is a new start for _you_. Start remembering that _you're_ brilliant. There is a world out there, waiting for you." Emma told him.

Troy wished that his crying reflexes hadn't been pushed away. Now was the right time to cry. He didn't care how it looked. He was filled with joy.

"You're amazing, Troy Burrows. Don't forget it."

With that, Emma turned around and began her walk out of the forest, furthering herself into the tall green woodlands.

So he had done it. He had found a friend. A real friend, who had their title in depth. He imagined the bullies, taunting him for being so happy over a new friend. He pictured himself finally blocking them out.

"Are you coming Troy?"

Troy shook his head to snap himself out of his thoughts and jogged into the forest to catch up with Emma. But before entering, he turned back around. The meadow was an open space of green, and the wind let it wave back to him.

Like she said, there was a world out there for him. It was waiting.

He wouldn't leave.


End file.
